Philly cop facing sex rap with girl, 14

A PHILLY COP was behind bars on prostitution charges Thursday night after allegedly having sex with a 14-year-old girl in a Bensalem hotel room earlier this week.

Anthony Dattilo, 36, a 12-year veteran police officer who works in Northeast Philadelphia's 2nd District, also offered to pay the girl for sex, police said.

Dattilo faces a bevy of charges, including aggravated indecent assault without consent, aggravated indecent assault of a person younger than 16, unlawful contact with a minor, promoting prostitution, and related offenses.

Dattilo, whose family owns a deli by that name in Northeast Philadelphia, was caught at a Bensalem motel by police responding to a possible abduction of a 14-year-old girl about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday, according to the Bucks County Courier Times. Officers reportedly found him in a room at the Lincoln Motel on Lincoln Highway with the teen and a woman who sources said may have been his 21-year-old girlfriend and who may solicited the teen to join them at the motel.

When police arrived at the motel room and banged on the door, Dattilo opened it and told them he was a Philly cop. Later as police questioned the teen, she tearfully said that Dattilo had touched her, according to the Courier Times.

After Dattilo picked up the teen and the woman in Philadelphia before driving them to the motel, the teen reportedly sent a text message to relatives saying she was being held against her will and that the man was trying to force her to have sex with him.

Dattilo offered to pay the teen $100 for sex before he allegedly had sex with her while the other woman watched, the newspaper reported. It's unclear if the teen took any money.

Philadelphia police spokesman Lt. Raymond Evers confirmed that an officer was arrested but declined to provide additional details, referring the Daily News to the arresting agency.

A police source said Dattilo, of Gillespie Street near Wellington in Tacony, had been released from custody and was at police headquarters in a disciplinary capacity when detectives and officials from the Bucks County Sheriff's Office arrived Thursday night to formally charge him.

Dattilo's preliminary arraignment in front of Judge Michael J. Burns was held Thursday night, and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 10. He was being held at a county jail after failing to post 10 percent of $500,000 bail. n

—Staff writer Phillip Lucas contributed to this report.

Contact Morgan Zalot at 215-854-5928 or zalotm@phillynews.com, or follow on Twitter @morganzalot.